heart in a cage
by Ivory Muse
Summary: He's such an enigma to her, even after all this time, that she sometimes forgets how much of himself he's revealed. Sheldon/Amy, 6x23, picking up the pieces.


_A/N: Read the taping report for 6x23 if you haven't already, because this fic will make no sense to you otherwise._

* * *

"I don't like this."

She sweeps away from the table and all but runs to Sheldon's room, giving the door a satisfying slam as she throws herself onto his new Darth Vader bedspread. _I've never been here before_, Amy thinks with a bitter chuckle- it's covered in scientific papers and fandom memorabilia, kept as sterile as an IBM facility. Who is she kidding? Of course they're never going to sleep together. If by some miracle Sheldon does decide he's willing to overcome his human contact issues and if by another miracle they actually manage to get their clothes off, he'll interrupt them halfway through to make sure she's sanitized her hands, or decide that a certain position improves brain function.

_Damn them damn them damn them_. She and Sheldon have cuddled and exchanged gifts and worn matching Halloween costumes and she still has the tiara he picked out- is that insignificant, unworthy of mention, just because he isn't ready for mutual genital contact? They're supposed to be her friends, for God's sake, not the bitches at the frat party she once crashed who laughed as the boys covered her drunken body with a spare sweater.

Three familiar raps. "Amy." Three more. "Amy." Rinse, wash, and repeat. "Amy."

"Yes?"

Sheldon enters, awkwardness personified, and it's obvious that he'd rather be anywhere else. This is not a situation that is pleasant for him, either, and she feels a sharp surge of renewed loathing towards this entire drama. "Never knocked on my own door before," he comments, closing it gently to give them some much-needed privacy.

"You don't have to come in here and cheer me up…." He can't fix the problem; well, he _can_, but he doesn't _want_ to, and despite her occasional attempts at igniting his libido, this isn't the kind of thing it's morally advisable to force upon an unwilling participant.

"Oh, thank you!" Relief floods his features, and he turns to leave. "Go out there and tell them that, because they all seem to be thinking the opposite."

"They think our relationship is a joke," she mutters, picking at a stray thread lingering on her sleeve.

He blinks a few times, confused. "I don't think our relationship is a joke. I think... 'a horse walks into a bar and the bartender asks, 'why the long face?'… that's a joke."

Amy can do nothing but stare. Her boyfriend graduated from high school at age eleven, had a PhD by sixteen, and has managed to become a complete idiot without the space of a second. That takes skill. "The horse has a long face," he adds helpfully.

"Sheldon…" she ventures, not sure of how blunt she can be, "will we ever have an _intimate_ relationship?"

"… That's an uncomfortable topic," he admits, sitting down beside her. "Listen. What we have, I feel, is extremely intimate."

He's such an enigma to her, even after all this time, that she sometimes forgets how much of himself he's revealed. "I guess I know that," she concedes, "but part of me still wants more."

"More?!" he exclaims. "Look, it's only been three years and here we are, in bed together."

She smiles, a little sadly, and repeats her question. "Do you think we will ever be intimate?"

"Amy. Before you, I was never interested in becoming intimate with anyone, my entire life."

Her breath hitches. "And… now?"

"I wouldn't rule it out," he finally murmurs, staring down at his blanket, and she realizes that this is the closest she has ever gotten to him.

"Let's go finish the game," she decides.

"No," he tells her, "they slayed the dragon and now are pillaging the remains. They cast a love spell on us. It wouldn't be right for the game to not see that through." Before she can demand to know who he is and what he's done to Sheldon Lee Cooper, he grabs a Dungeons and Dragons set off the dresser. "I attempt to remove your armor." He rolls the dice. "It comes off."

She smirks at him and takes the die from his hands. _This_ game might turn out to be a bit more satisfying than the last.


End file.
